Register

    Short Takes: Director Middleditch, Timber Stage “Epic Battle”

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments8184 Views
    Jeff Masters, CG supervisor at ATK PLN
    --

    Director Paul Middleditch of production house a WHITELABEL product has teamed with VFX studio Timber on this “Epic Battle” spot for Cox Communications out of agency FCB Chicago. The ambitious ad places viewers right in the midst of an active battle, revealing that the addition of “extras,” both in battle scenes and through Cox services, is always an advantage.

    To elevate the scale, ferocity and cinematic scope, Timber used crowd simulation software to take 100 extras and make them feel like 1,000. Animated characters blended seamlessly with real ones, along with CG weaponry and digital fire effects, creating a larger-than-life world akin to Game of Thrones…..

    LA Film Fest Delves Into Immersive Storytelling
    This year marks the launch of an immersive storytelling section of the LA Film Festival (Sept. 20-28), in partnership with LMU’s School of Film and Television, Jacqueline Lyanga (former director of the AFI Fest) will curate this section of the Festival as guest director, VR and immersive storytelling. This section will showcase exemplary, daring new work in a variety of new media platforms including VR, AI and AR. This two-day experience will be free to the public and take place September 22-23, at the new LMU Playa Vista Campus.

    The LA Film Fest is also introducing We the People, a summit that is a participatory, solution-oriented call to action. Over the course of two days at the Writers Guild Theatre, September 22-23, We the People will feature free panel discussions and keynote talks on issues of representation and inclusion in the industry. The Festival is adding a partnership with the International Documentary Association to expand Film Independent and the Festival’s support of the documentary community. The Fest is introducing a Documentary Pass and centering its documentary programming at ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood to make it easily accessible to attendees of the IDA’s conference, Getting Real….

    People On The Move….
    Dallas-based strategic creative group ATK PLN has hired Jeff Masters as CG supervisor. Masters has over a decade of experience in VFX and animation, cutting his teeth on compositing and lighting roles for a range of feature films, commercials, theme park rides, and VR experiences out of Digital Domain and Reel FX Animation. His feature credits include Thor, 47 Ronin and Rock of Ages. Masters' skillset spans photorealistic CGI for live action projects and lighting and compositing for animation. Fusing his technical and creative expertise, he has developed proprietary tools to tackle artist efficiency and technical challenges. His work has earned numerous accolades, including a nomination for a VES Award in the Outstanding Created Environment category for the animated feature The Book of Life. Driven by dual passions for film and animation, Pittsburgh native Masters studied Visual Effects at Savannah College of Art and Design, learning hands-on with VFX internships at leading postproduction and ad shops. After graduation, he landed his first professional post as a technical director for Digital Domain where he composited live-action films and sports spots. He joined Reel FX Animation in 2012 as lead lighter, embracing the artistic possibilities of post for animation, lending his talent to feature films, branded projects and more. Masters said he was drawn in part to the boutique sensibility at ATK PLN and the opportunity to challenge himself creatively and technically with its wide slate of projects….

    Category:Short Takes
    Tags:ATK PLNLA Film FestivalTimber



    Linda Lavin, Tony-Winning Actor Who Starred In The Sitcom “Alice,” Dies At 87

    Monday, December 30, 2024

    Linda Lavin, a Tony Award-winning stage actor who became a working class icon as a paper-hat wearing waitress on the TV sitcom "Alice," has died. She was 87.

    Lavin died in Los Angeles on Sunday of complications from recently discovered lung cancer, her representative, Bill Veloric, told The Associated Press in an email.

    A success on Broadway, Lavin tried her luck in Hollywood in the mid-1970s. She was chosen to star in a new CBS sitcom based on "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," the Martin Scorsese-directed film that won Ellen Burstyn an Oscar for playing the title waitress.

    The title was shortened to "Alice" and Lavin become a role model for working moms as Alice Hyatt, a widowed mother with a 12-year-old son working in a roadside diner outside Phoenix. The show, with Lavin singing the theme song "There's a New Girl in Town," ran from 1976 to 1985.

    The show turned "Kiss my grits" into a catchphrase and co-starred Polly Holliday as waitress Flo and Vic Tayback as the gruff owner and head chef of Mel's Diner.

    The series bounced around the CBS schedule during its first two seasons but became a hit leading into "All in the Family" on Sunday nights in October 1977. It was among primetime's top 10 series in four of the next five seasons. Variety magazine listed it among the all-time best workplace comedies.

    Lavin soon went on to win a Tony for best actress in a play for Neil Simon's "Broadway Bound" in 1987.

    She was working as recently as this month promoting a new Netflix series in which she appears, "No Good Deed," and filming a forthcoming Hulu series, "Mid-Century Modern," according to Deadline, which first reported her death.

    Lavin grew up in Portland, Maine, and moved to New York City after graduating from... Read More

    MySHOOT Profiles


    Add A Comment